Analyst: iPad could be delayed until April

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It begins: Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek is harshing on all our buzzes by announcing that according to an unidentified source at Hon Hai Precision, a CE manufacturer, the iPad could be delated until April. The source said that there were only 300K units available for a March launch, which may put a damper on what we’re calling iPad Awareness Month.

He expects Apple to sell about 1.2 million units in 2010 and 3.5 million in 2011.

Because I’m equally qualified to make stuff up about Apple, I believe his numbers are way off. As for Hon Hai and the production problems, this could be true or it could be sour grapes. Remember: CE companies in China dig at each other all the time and even attempt pump and dump stock schemes by leaking bits of news and selling when the stock is hot. Considering he couches all of his terms in analyst speak, there’s no telling what’s going on here:

“An unspecified production problem at the iPad’s manufacturer, Hon Hai Precision, will likely limit the launch region to the US and the number of units available to roughly 300K in the month of March,” he writes, “far lower than the company’s initial estimate of 1,000K units. The delay in production ramp will likely impact Apple’s April unit estimate of 800K as well. It is also possible that, given the limited number of units available in March, the launch will be delayed for a month.”

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CrunchBase

DescriptionThe Apple iPad, formerly referred to as the Apple Tablet, is a touch-pad tablet computer announced in January 2010, and released in April 2010. It has internet capabilities running on either WiFi or 3G, and offers an optional dock with a full size mechanical keyboard.
The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc. primarily as a platform for audio-visual media …